It has been commonplace to provide compartmented baskets and racks for holding a plurality of articles, usually glassware, dinnerware or flatware, to be washed in violently agitating water in an automatic dishwasher. Examples of such devices can be found in the following United States patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,392 Weiss, granted Apr. 10, 1956 for "Glass-Washing Tray";
U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,958 Frangos, granted Feb. 3, 1976 for "Utensil Basket for Institutional Dishwashing Machines;" and
U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,233 Frangos, granted Nov. 15, 1977 for "Utensil Basket for Institutional Dishwasing Machines". But the baskets and racks proposed for use with heavy; solid objects, such as food containers and utensils, are not particularly suited for holding light weight, highly flexible and crushable baby bottle nipples which are usually made of soft rubber or other rubber-like material. The cleansing environment within an automatic dishwasher is, on the other hand, particularly suited for nipples. Higher water temperatures than can be used comfortably with hand washing are used in the automatic dishwasher, and the violent, prolonged agitation of the wash and rinse waters can provide superior cleansing as well.
The principal problem to be solved has been that of providing some device for properly orienting the nipples in the dishwasher and confining the nipples sufficiently to prevent dislodgment of that orientation while allowing maximum access of the wash and rinse waters to all surfaces of the nipple to ensure cleaning. It is also deemed important that the device provided for this purpose be inexpensive, yet sufficiently durable to be used repeatedly and for an extended period of time.